Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Dublin traffic is a serious problem. I have long asked the cause. The obvious cause is continuous policies by this Government, by past Governments, and if the 2040 plan materialises, it will also be by future Governments. It is because everything revolves around Dublin. Continuous policies have directed investment to ensure that industry and business continue to come to this city. Most likely, when one listens to Kerry radio each morning, the first news headlines at 7 a.m. will announce another hundred jobs or 500 jobs for Dublin, but it is very rare when there is a job directed towards Kerry or the west. Then the story is how we get the traffic into Dublin and out of it.

Deputy Cowen spoke about the midlands. We know that the whole midlands are travelling into Dublin each morning because they have to because no jobs at all have been directed towards the midlands. The further west a person goes, the worse the story is. We cannot attract business into our counties because we do not have the infrastructure. We have been fighting for 22 years for the Macroom bypass. It is to be hoped it will materialise. Most of the county still does not have broadband. There is plenty of broadband here. It could be in Kerry, west Cork, or Clare if the people in power were minded to do that. They are hell-bent on doing things for Dublin. Everything has to be Dublin. I do not begrudge the people who live and work here in Dublin but we are asking for fair play down the country. That is all we want. There is to be another runway built for Dublin Airport while at the same time our fine Shannon international airport has been downgraded. It is half empty most times one goes there because the policy of making planes stop there ended. Now it is all Dublin. They can build another runway, it does not matter what it costs. They should build it anyway and bring more people in. The 2040 plan says it will build a metro, extend the Luas, and have more DARTs.

I believe the Government gave €135 million for a glorified footpath in Dublin. That is more than we would get for the roads programme for the year in the county of Kerry. God Almighty, is anyone going to stand up and say, "Stop"? If the Government keeps putting people into this side of the country it will topple into the Irish Sea. It will have to happen.

We are depending on the local industries the indigenous people set up. We cannot attract investment into our county. We have failed because we do not have the infrastructure. I am looking at the Minister, Deputy Ross. I am saying I believe we are not getting a fair crack of the whip. Where would we be without Liebherr that has been in Kerry for 60 years, FEXCO in Killorglin, Munster Joinery on the Cork-Kerry border, Michael Cronin Readymix, Seán Murphy KWD, Tricel, O'Carroll Engineering, Walsh Colour Print and Dairymaster?

We have a Sneem community group voluntarily fundraising to try to get infrastructure into an old hall in Sneem so that it can provide a few jobs. We are not getting a fair crack of the whip at all. They have to buy this broadband dearly so that they can employ people in that place.

I heard one Deputy mention here that there should be more investment in transport to take children to school. Our trouble is we cannot keep the rural schools open because we cannot keep the people at home. This new plan will invest in Cork city and Limerick. There is not one word about Kerry and that is what is wrong. That is why Dublin is chocked.

Everything is directed at Dublin. Whether it is Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or Sinn Féin, they are all so much more interested in Dublin than they are in the rural part of this country and that is what is wrong. We will have to change tack.

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